Surface
Interface Ontario
was made possible through $1.5 million in funding from the
Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research
and Development Challence Fund. Evolving from the Surface
Science Unit in the Institute for Biomedical and Biomedical
Engineering (IBBME), Surface
Interface Ontariois now housed in newly renovated office
and lab space within the Department of Chemical Engineering
and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto. However,
as a regional facility, Surface
Interface Ontarioextends well beyond this through its association
with other departments and institutions, both at the University
of Toronto and elsewhere.

Support for the initiative came from
several departments at the University of Toronto and McMaster
University, both financially and through facility participation.
In addition to the ten Principal Investigators, 25 other groups
were identified as major users. Industrial and government
agency support was also received. Thus, Surface
Interface Ontariosupports a diverse community sharing
a common interest in advanced material research.